09 Callie Sullivan Personal Approach to Design: Where Stories and Art Shape Every Space

Callie Sullivan is the founder of Ester Interiors + Design, a Detroit-based design studio focused on creating spaces that feel lived-in, loved, and uniquely personal. She believes your home should tell your story—through the art you collect, the pieces you choose, and even the old concert posters or napkin sketches you’ve held onto for years. Her approach is warm, collaborative, and rooted in the idea that good design doesn’t have to be intimidating—it just has to feel like you.

This conversation was between Callie Sullivan and her good friend Courtney Jentzen, an illustrator, designer, and teacher based in Detroit, Michigan.

Written by Courtney Jentzen. Photos by Ellie Frances.

Courtney: So you and I have been friends for many years but I want others to learn more about your business, Ester. Why did you decide to start Ester?

Callie: I decided to start Ester after years and years of taking side gigs for friends. Eventually those side gigs just grew and kept getting bigger and bigger and I realized this is something I wanted to continue doing. I spent many years as a stay at home parent and during those years I was able to really define what I wanted to do when it was time to start a new career.

I had all this imposter syndrome around starting a real career after being home with my kids. But what I quickly realized is that stay at home parents have so much to prove, we work harder. You have to be a hard worker to be home with your children and that has easily translated to working outside the home.

I started taking courses to see if this was the right path for me. I fell in love with the design aspect but also the business portion of design. I fell for that in a way that I haven't with anything else I’ve done in the past.

Courtney: I completely understand that and agree. What was it that really inspired you to take the leap to start your own design business? Can you trace it back to a moment or an experience?

Callie: It’s hard to say a singular moment but when I think about an experience that really empowered me, I think of our lake house we built in Northern Michigan. During this process, we hired an architectural firm and they had a line item on there for an interior designer. The very first thing I did was have them remove that from the scope. I wanted to take the project on myself. I just wanted to see if I could do it, you know? There were a few times where I wanted to consult another designer or I wanted to hire someone but I had to be really clear with myself about my goal. In the end I wanted to say I did this on my own. The fact that it turned out the way it did, I knew I could do this for the long run.

Courtney: I feel like for you, that must have been a moment of truth.

Callie: Yes, but going back to the business of design, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to translate that skill to other people. But soon after the lake house, I started working with a design firm out West working on designing their interiors. That was when I realized I could handle the business side of things as well and I took the leap.

Courtney: Now that you have Ester, what would you say is your design philosophy for the brand as well as yourself?

Callie: My philosophy is that every home should reflect the homeowner. I observe people all the time. When I am having my initial consults with my clients, my goal is to find out what is important to them; as well as what isn’t. I also observe the things they leave out, I also observe what makes them light up.I want to know what brings them joy and makes them tick so that when I am designing their space I can bring as much of them to their space as possible.

Courtney: So you have to be really good at reading people then?

Callie: Yes, and I love people! I genuinely love people- quirks and all! I love to throw all of that into the design in little creative ways. I want people to walk into a space that I have created and say “YES, this is that person’s home, I now know something about them I didn’t know before." I want you to get a sense of who they are from this space. There are people who will tell me that they don’t have a style or an aesthetic, but that isn’t true. They just need a little help having it worked out of them. It’s my job to read between the lines and help them get there.

Courtney: What is the defining characteristic of an Ester Project?

Callie: There is definitely a brand identity. While I am careful to design for each home and each client and let their space speak to them, they are going to get that under the Ester umbrella. Ester projects have a lot of warmth, pattern and color that have become our trademarks. Nothing should be too precious.  While I want to get to the heart of each homeowner, I am going to do that through the lens of Ester Interiors + Design. People feel very welcomed in the spaces and to me, there is no bigger complement.

Courtney: I love that. With that process then, how do you find the inspiration for these projects?

Callie: Inspiration comes from everywhere for me. It can be from trips, trade shows, or even going to a coffee shop- just seeing pieces in the wild. I also LOVE a boutique hotel, I love seeing what they are using and how it’s being applied. I love fabrics and I now collect wallpaper samples like candy. I am a collector of things! And overtime, it has become part of my own personal fabric. I have started to curate a mental rolodex! This helps a lot when I’m in a conversation with a homeowner and they say they need something specific, I can pull from my personal collection and source something quickly.

Courtney: When you are working on a project, and you are past the materials stage, past sourcing furniture, and it comes to the actual walls themselves- how do you see artwork coming into play with your projects?

Callie: It really depends on the type of project I am doing because sometimes it will be one of the earlier things I am going to talk and think about with the space. It could be as simple as this artist uses a lot of stripes in this piece, how can I pull stripes into other elements of this space? Then there are other times when the room comes together and it has an aesthetic, and I'm looking for the piece that is going to pull that together. I don’t always know what I am going to start with but art is always a crucial piece in any of my spaces.

Courtney: How do you source the art for your clients?

Callie: When I’m putting together an art proposal, I’ll often look at the space and see what art is needed for the room. Say there is one giant wall, I might decide that we need one large incredible, special item for the room or sometimes I’ll decide we want several smaller pieces.  I put together proposals that reflect the needs of the space with various styles for them to choose from.

Courtney: How do you determine what art is right for your spaces?

Callie: You know, it’s interesting. It’s similar to what I mentioned about always collecting. I’m always collecting ideas for lighting, furniture, wallpaper, and art is kind of the same. My eyes are always open to art. Sometimes I’ll have a tone I want to strike in a space and so I go search for the right piece. Other times, I’ll remember something I saw in the past and revisit that for a project.

Courtney: How do you curate the art pieces you share with your clients?

Callie: A lot of times I will go through the ArtClvb app (I genuinely love this app!) and I’ll scroll and scroll and I will bring together an art proposal, these are the pieces I love and these are the pieces I think you should consider for your home.

My clients are busy! They do not have time to sit there and go through thousands of pieces, that is the entire point of hiring a boutique service like Ester. They need me to go through those pieces for them and curate selections. I think so many of my choices are made on intuition as well and just knowing my clients; the piece will sometimes just grab me.

Courtney: You worked with ArtClvb on a recent project to bring artwork into a client’s home. Tell me a bit about that process.

Callie: I actually had visited the ArtClvb showroom after a meeting with Dorota, and saw Ivan Montoya’s artwork sitting on the side. It was after a gallery show and the piece just took my breath away and I needed to know more about it. Dorota told me more about the artist and I fell in love with the piece. Ironically enough, I hadn’t met the client yet where this piece would end up living but I knew I needed to find a home for it. When I met the client, I realized this is the right home, this is the right space and I am going to marry these two together and I can’t wait to do it! Ivan’s piece is the perfect fit for their space.  Sometimes you find the pieces first, before you find their homes. But you carry them with you. And eventually the right space becomes clear and that is the magic.

Courtney: I think art can be intimidating for people. Which is one of the reasons I really like ArtClvb because they make it feel approachable. What is your advice to someone who is looking to bring art into their home but they don’t know where to start?

Callie: I think that ArtClvb is such a great way to start your art buying process. First of all, you are buying small and supporting small businesses. I think there is this idea of artists as being elite in some way, but what you’re doing with ArtClvb is supporting artists in your community who are making a life for themselves through their art. It’s so community focused. I have had two deliveries recently where the artist themselves have shown up to the client’s homes with their art, they have signed their paintings and taken a photo with the piece. It’s such an intimate and loving process to purchase these pieces. The artist is grateful and the homeowner feels a connection to the source. It’s a really special process that you don’t get by buying something else.

I think when buying art, it’s good to think about your high point and your low point in terms of price. Realistically, as much as you love a piece, your budget does impact a lot of decision making. Art is truly an investment and when you are looking to start your collection, you’ll want to look for a piece that really speaks to you. Investment is different to everybody but the most important thing is art should give you a feeling. Something that stays with you.

Courtney: I just moved into a new house myself and I know I still have a lot of walls that need something. What advice do you have for homeowners looking to make their house a home through art?

Callie: Take your time when deciding what goes on the walls. Get creative with things you already have. Maybe it’s an old concert poster you have that you love- go get that framed. Don’t just fill the walls in order to fill the walls. I had a piece an artist gave me, she drew something quickly on the back of a napkin and gave it to me. She handed it to me at a coffee shop 10 years ago and ironically enough, she is now my next door neighbor! But at the time, we didn’t know one another. I framed it though, because I loved it. Fill your walls with bits of your life and let them tell your story.

Courtney: What are the current trends in design that you are seeing? Any you wish would go away?

Callie: MAXIMALISM! I like curated maximalism. I want there to be a story to it all! Each book, fabric and all the little bits and bobs should have a moment or a reason they are in your home. Why are these here? Why were they chosen? I think this even lends itself to the art as well, how do all these elements reflect the people living in the space.

A trend that I do hope disappears, is taking away the existing history and beauty of a home. I work with a lot of older homes and you’ll see people who just want to modernize everything. That is not the way. There is a way to update a home and make it work for a modern family while still paying respect to the history of the home.

I also hope people stop designing their homes for resale. You are the person living in that home, not the next homeowner.

Courtney: You just celebrated your 1 year anniversary of Ester, congratulations! What is next for you, do you have a dream project you’d love to work on?

Callie: A boutique hotel! I love everything about them. My dream would be to design one from the ground up and have a hand in picking every last detail out.

Callie's ArtClvb Picks

Chris Walker

$800

Lauren Harrington

$3000

Katie Mongroven

$2000

Natalie Petrosky

$3,500.00

Ivan Montoya

$1200

Justin Bean

$1,100

Amy Faigley-Lee

$2500